Flexible swimming aid



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FLEXIBLE SWIMMING AID Filed April 17, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 15, 1963 s. s. ClCCOTELLl 3,072,932

FLEXIBLE SWIMMING AID Filed April 17, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 STEPHEN 5. C/C'COTELL/ w BY mppzneaww acmm.

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United States Patent 3,072,932 FLEXIBLE SWIMMING AID Stephen S. Ciccotelli, 745 10th St., Pitcairn, Pa. Filed Apr. 17, 1962, Ser. No. 188,052 7 Claims. (Cl. 9-309) This invention relate to structure that is to be mounted on a foot as an aid in swimming particularly with the flutter-kick swimming stroke.

The conventional rubber or plastic flipper expends a considerable amount of energy due to the drag caused by the portions of it thatfit over and serve to attach it to the foot. In addition, in the conventional relatively stiff rubber or plastic flipper, the elastic energy of bending that is required to deflect the thrust surface is high. After each flexing cycle, only part of this energy is' recovered in useful thrust.

lt is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved swim flipper or swimming aid adapted to be mounted on the foot and particularly useful for swimming with the flutter-kick swimming stroke.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved swimming aid of the general character of rubber and plastic swim flippers in which the amount of elastic energy of bending the thrust elements is reduced but the structure is so characterized that it supports a heavy thrust load.

Another object of the invention is to provide a swim flipper in which the pitch angle of the thrust surface or blade is adjustable.

The invention will be described in detail in conjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a swimming aid in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the swimming aid in accordance with FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line III-III of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the front portion of the swimming aid structure showing the flexible member in the thrust extended position; and

FIG. 5 is a view of a portion of the swimming aid structure shown in FIG. 4 in which the flexing limiting means is a chain.

Referring now to the drawings, the swimming aid shown includes a boot 10. As may be seen in the several views, the boot is streamlined so that it provides minimum drag. The size of the boot varies, of course, depending on the user but in all instances is of a size adapted to snugly receive the foot. In the embodiment shown, the boot is continuous up to a ring on head member 12 that extends around the ankle.

A flexible beam 14 extends forwardly from the boot 10. The flexible beam can be made of rubber or plastic that can be bent without fracture. Suitably this beam comprises an extension from the bottom portion 18 of the boot. The beam is streamlined and in the embodiment shown, particularly in FIG. 3, has a generally elliptical cross-section that tapers towards its outer free end 20. Integral with the beam 14 is a generally rectangular blade 22 at its outer or free end 20 of the beam. The blade 22 can be a separate piece adapted to be received in a slot (not shown) in the end of the beam or can be a member that is integral therewith, with the beam and blade member being molded in the combined form upon production. Blade 22 is of a construction so that it has but minimal bending upon being applied for thrust. The blade 22 and beam 14 jointly are denoted a fin-like member.

A metal finger or stop member 24 is included and has one of its ends 25 anchored to the boot. This can be accomplished by attaching it to a metal member 26 that is provided within the boot. It can also be accomplished by Patented Jan; 15, 1963 "ice providing a U-shaped end on member 25 that extends around the toe of the boot and tightly engages its side walls; the U-shape can be held there by a band 28 that extends over a portion of the boot bottom 18 and which clamps the U-shape end tightly, or by a pin extending through the boot, or otherwise. The finger or stop member 24 is a rigid non-flexible member; its end remote from the toe of the boot is free, and suitably is looped to de fine an eyelet 30. Attached to the eyelet 30 of finger 24 is a means 32 that may be a chain, rod or the like having loops or knobs at each of its ends (see FIGS. 2 and 4). Means 32 is attached by one of its loops to the eyelet 30 of the finger means. It then extends forwardly through an eyelet 34 of a pin 36 embedded in the flexible beam member 14 generally in the area of the blade mem bet. The loop or knob 38 on the free end of means 32 prevents withdrawal from the eyelet in pin 36. Where a chain is used as the means 32, each end of the chain (32a in FIG. 5) is attached to an eyelet and the chain length is chosen to provide the limit of flexing.

As is apparent from FIG. 4, the function of means 32 is to limit the extent that beam 14 bends upon being used to provide thrust. This is accomplished by simply adjusting the length of means 32 so that its loop or knob 38 engages eyelet 34 at the position of beam 14 desired. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the most efficient position will vary with different swimmers and swimming problems.

In using my unique swimming aid to provide forward thrust, the kicking action causes the flexible beam to deflect from its normal position to a position as shown in FIG. 4. The extent of this deflection is limited by the means 32 sliding through the eyelet 34 until its knob 38 engages and stops further bending. Thus, as greater force is applied, the pitch of the flexible beam does not change and the additional force is fully exerted as thrust rather than being expended in further bending the beam. When the reverse stroke is applied, the flexible beam tends to bend upwardly above the toe of the boot, but the rigid metal finger or stop 24 that lies along its upper surface prevents this. Thus, most of the force exerted during the reverse kick also is translated directly into thrust rather than being expended in bending the propulsion member.

From the foregoing description and discussion, it is evident that my new swimming aid is a radical departure from flexible type products presently available. Moreover, its characteristics are such as to permit its efficient adaptation for different swimmers and swimming conditions. These advantages have been achieved while retaining essential simplicity and relatively fool-proof construction and operation.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. A swim flipper comprising first means adapted for mounting on a foot, a flexible fin-like member attached to said first means and extending forwardly therefrom, a rigid member anchored to said first means and extending part way along the top surface of the flexible fin-like member, and a flexing limiting member comprising second means attached both to the rigid member at a distance from said first means as well as to said flexible fin-like member at a distance from the end of the substantially rigid member.

2. A swim flipper in accordance with claim 1, in which said flexible fin-like member comprises a flexible shaft having a generally rectangular blade at its end remote from said first means.

3. A swim flipper according to claim 2 in which the first means comprises a streamlined boot and the flexible shaft has an elliptical cross-sectional shape that tapers towards its end away from the boot.

4.. A swim flipper comprising a boot to be mounted on a foot, a flexible beam anchored at one of its ends to the boot and having its opposite end extending forwardly of the boot, a generally rectangular blade supported by the beam at its free end, a substantially rigid rod that is shorter than the beam and is anchored at one of its ends to the boot, an eyelet on the other end of the rigid rod, means attached to the rigid rod at its eyelet, a second eyelet anchored to the flexible beam at a location beyond the eyelet end of the rigid rod, said means engaging said second eyelet being adapted to limit the flexing distance of the flexible beam.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,061,264 Bys May 13, 1913 2,557,367 Wenke June 19, 1951 3,042,943 Kat-ehis July 10, 1962 

1. A SWIM FLIPPER COMPRISING FIRST MEANS ADAPTED FOR MOUNTING ON A FOOT, A FLEXIBLE FIN-LIKE MEMBER ATTACHED TO SAID FIRST MEANS AND EXTENDING FORWARDLY THEREFROM, A RIGID MEMBER ANCHORED TO SAID FIRST MEANS AND EXTENDING PART WAY ALONG THE TOP SURFACE OF THE FLEXIBLE FIN-LIKE MEMBER, AND A FLEXING LIMITING MEMBER COMPRISING SECOND MEANS ATTACHED BOTH TO THE RIGID MEMBER AT A DISTANCE FROM SAID FIRST MEANS AS WELL AS TO SAID FLEXIBLE FIN-LIKE MEMBER AT A DISTANCE FROM THE END OF THE SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID MEMBER. 